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Chapter 44

*6 days later*

Freddy sighed as he woke and sat up in his bed. He didn't want to get up. Work was starting to get boring, as it was just the same routine over and over, every day. He didn't really look forward to going.

But something was nagging at the back of his mind. He tried to latch onto it, but a crash from the opposite side of the room interrupted his thoughts.

"FUCK!" Springtrap's voice yelled. He looked up to see her pulling herself off the floor, tangled in blankets. She must have fallen off the bed in her sleep.

Mari sighed from the bed next to Springtrap's. "Thanks for screaming in my ear," she said sarcastically. "I appreciate it."

Chica sat up and swung her legs off her bed. "Well, I guess we're all awake now."

Everybody got out of bed and began getting ready for work. As Freddy buttoned up his waistcoat, he couldn't help but think that something was off. Mari wasn't chattering excitedly about her manga books like she usually was, and was instead getting dressed quietly, with a worried, thoughtful look on her face. As soon as Springtrap was dressed, she sat down on her bed and pulled out her sketchbook. This wasn't unusual, but there was a look of concerned urgency on her face, as though if she didn't get her thoughts down on the paper immediately, they might disappear forever. Chica and Goldie were acting mostly the same, having a hushed conversation in the corner of the room as they got dressed.

That nagging feeling came back, and Freddy tried desperately to figure out what it meant. But the feeling slipped away again before he could figure it out.

xXx

Tonnie took a deep breath as he entered the pizzeria, inhaling the scent of crayons and pizza. Usually he was happy to go to work, but something kept poking at his thoughts, interrupting his good mood. Usually, he and Mangle would be running into the restaurant, shouting and laughing. But something was different this time.

The feeling had started a couple days ago. It was almost unoticable at first, and he thought nothing of it, but now it was impossible to ignore. And as far as he knew, it was affecting everyone else, too. Zoe had come to work the previous day, and she hadn't made any progress on the new little animatronics. Vincent hadn't come out of his room much at all over the past few days. Scott said it was because he was sick, but Tonnie had never seen him get sick at all for the past eight months they'd been working.

Tonnie shook his head vigourously, clearing the thoughts from his head. He just had to get through this work day.

xXx

Charlie sat down at her desk in her classroom, pulling a sandwich out of her bag. She usually ate her lunch in the staff room, with the other teachers, but she hadn't interacted much with the rest of the staff for the past couple of days. She just felt really off lately. She wondered if maybe she was getting sick.

She contemplated her sandwich for a moment, then closed the container it was in and put it back in her school bag. She just didn't feel like eating.

Charlie looked around the room. Yeah, maybe she was getting sick, but she didn't think that was the case.

Teachers and students alike bustled about the hallways, the children talking and laughing, the teachers yelling at the kids to calm down. Voices and footsteps echoed throughout the building, making their way into Charlie's classroom. She sighed and walked over to the door, shutting it to quiet the noises.

She looked around the room. There was no one else in there with her.

But she just couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched.

xXx

Foxy spread his arms and flopped backwards into the foam pit in Pirate's Cove. It was their three o'clock break, and the morning had been just as boring as ever.

"Ugh," Bonnie sighed as he strolled into Pirate's Cove, tossed his glasses off to the side, and fell into the foam pit next to Foxy. "I'm so done with this."

"You're telling me," Teddy replied, toppling face-first into the foam pit. "It's so repetitive," he said, his voice muffled by the squishy blue squares.

"I know," Foxy said. He enjoyed their one-hour breaks. They actually got to do what they wanted for once.

Foxy looked sideways at Teddy. He opened his mouth to say something, probably another comment about how horribly boring their jobs were, but the words caught in his throat when he saw something on Teddy's neck.

"What in the name of Blackbeard is that?" he asked, sitting up.

"What?" Teddy wondered, lifting his head up so he could talk. "What's happening?"

"Look," Bonnie said, pointing. He was sitting up too. He reached out of the pit and grabbed his glasses.

Teddy raised his hand and touched his neck where Bonnie had pointed. He took his hand away and looked at it. "Um, there's nothing there, you guys."

"Yeah, there is," Foxy insisted. He reached out and tugged down the collar of Teddy's dress shirt.

Bonnie slid on his glasses and squinted. "Yeah, Teddy, your neck is orange."

Teddy furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh. Well, it was on my shoulder before, but I didn't think it would spread." He turned his head, trying to see it.

Foxy turned to look at Bonnie and caught sight of something on his hand. "Um, I don't think it's just Teddy." He grabbed Bonnie's wrist and held it up for him to see.

Bonnie blinked in confusion at his partially purple hand. "What the heck...?" he whispered. He looked up at Foxy and blinked. "Um, Foxy?" He pointed at his chest.

Foxy tugged down the collar of his shirt with his hook and looked down. The metal on his chest was dark red.

And it seemed to be spreading upwards towards his face.

xXx

Vincent sat down on his bed dejectedly. He felt horrible. He wasn't getting sick; he knew that much. He never got sick. There was a constant pain throbbing behind his eyes, but he knew it wasn't a headache.

He winced automatically as a piece of metal pierced through the skin on his arm. This was happening more and more frequently. He wished he could make it stop, but the ghosts were getting restless. He knew they were tired of being stuck in this body, and he was as well. They all wanted out, and so did he.

But he couldn't leave, not now. Not until he fixed what he had done. Not until the other ghosts were free.

xXx

Springtrap sat down on the floor after work and immediately flipped open her sketchbook. It was almost full. She'd have to ask Zoe or Fritz for a new one if she lived that long. There were so many things swirling through her mind, and she scribbled them all down on the paper in a matter of minutes. She had to get all of it drawn out before it was too late.

She was staring down at her paper, but she suddenly felt the urge to look up. She didn't want to. She didn't want to see that thing again. But her instincts won over and she tore her eyes away from the paper.

She blinked. It wasn't there anymore. Last time, there had been a creature standing in front of her. It had been transparent and humanoid. It wore a security guard uniform and carried a toolbox in one hand. It hadn't seemed very horrifying, just looking like an average person, but the way it had stared at her had seemed less than human, like it was a lion waiting to snap its jaws around her throat.

She glanced around the room. There was no sign of it. It must have left.

But she wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

xXx

Chica sat down on the couch at home, feeling worried. The voices had gotten more urgent over the past few days, but today, they had just stopped. She and Goldie had both been very concerned for the entire day, and they tried figuring out what was wrong, but every explanation they came up with just didn't seem right.

Goldie sat down next to her and sighed. Everyone else was settling down, changing into shirts and jeans, talking about books and TV shows like usual, but they all seemed wary and scared. Mangle and Tonnie were huddled together in a corner, looking around worriedly as their older counterparts stood next to them. Bonnie's hand was on Tonnie's shoulder, and Foxy had put an arm protectively around Mangle. Tia walked over to the hallway next to the TV, probably going to the kitchen, but she as soon as she glanced down the hallway and saw that no one else was down there, she apparently changed her mind and sat down in front of the TV with BB and Mari.

The only person that didn't seem to be scared was Springtrap. She was sitting on the floor against the wall like always, drawing in her sketchbook. Chica found this weird. The voices had stopped, everyone was worried, and something was clearly going on. So why wasn't she affected like everybody else?

"Something's happening," Goldie observed unnecessarily.

Chica nodded. "Yeah. But what is it?" she wondered aloud, leaning forward and resting her chin on her hands.

"I don't know," Goldie replied.

She turned and looked at him. They didn't need to read each other's minds to know that they were both thinking the same thing.

Something was happening, and Springtrap was involved somehow.